Capítulo 16: The Mini-Boss: Feathered Scourge

As Stark went inside the silver fog, he couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine as his vision was extremely obscured, yet every other sense of his was triggered: he could smell rot, he could feel an eerie aura around him, and he could hear the voices of tourmented souls screaming for him to go back.

[Recommended level to attempt mini-boss: 15]

[Warning! It is advised for you to go back!]

But Stark didn't care, and he pushed through the fog, traversing it after a few seconds and now able to see normally again.

'Holy…' he opened his eyes, and took notice of his surroundings.

He found himself in a desolate area filled with decaying corpses, the ground littered with bones and moss that seemed to have grown over everything.

He was still in the ruined city as buildings were still around, but the overall atmosphere was different.

'Am I in the luxury district?' the buildings looked more luxurious than before, and some abandoned jewelry and design clothes stores and could be seen.

[Level 15 area "Advanced District" entered]

'Hm,' Stark began walking through the district, looking around for any signs of monsters or of the mini-boss.

Meanwhile…

High above a building, a grotesque creature with jagged wings, sharped talons, and glowing eyes watched Stark's entrance into the district.

It was the mini-boss, the 'Feathered Scourge', a demonic creature that ravaged the luxury district, feeding on the souls of the dead and twisting the environment to its liking.

But do not be mistaken, it is also under the control of the Black Sun.

Below, Stark continued to explore the district, trying to ignore the growing sense of dread as he pushed forward. He had no idea what awaited him, but he was determined to face whatever came his way.

And after a minute or two of that… the creature decided it was time to start the battle, thinking more people would come.

The creature leaped silently toward Stark from the building, its wings giving it an incredible amount of speed, and its claws ready to kill the boy.

'What's that noise…' Stark mumbled as he heard the small flapping of the wings, and instinctively looked up, just to see the giant creature coming at him from above, "HOLY SHIT!"

Focusing most of his aura around his legs, Stark used some last second decision and jumped out of the attack's way.

~CRASH~

He had luckily been able to avoid the attack, but…

"-382!"

Even that wasn't enough to stop him from being injured as the after shock of the scourge's smash attack managed to send him flying against a nearby building.

[HP: 118/500]

'Fucking hell, one more attack and i'm done for…' Stark immediately got up and readied his fists, intense aura pouring out from them as he analyzed his opponent.

The mini-boss was at least five meters tall, had massive jagged white wings emerging from its back, a mouthless head with only yellow eyes looking down on him, and long legs and arms that could do a lot of damage to anyone who came in contact with them.

[Name: Feathered Scourge (Rift MINI-BOSS)]

[Level: 15]

[HP: 25000]

[Strength: 281]

[Stamina: 738]

[Speed: 372]

[Defense: 182]

[Skills: Wing Dive, Feint Strike, Soul Syphon, Eye Curse, Hellfire, Divine Strike]

'Defense is low… that might be the key to beating it,' it had an enormous amount of HP, and it would take Stark at least 13 hits to kill it, but the fact he would only attack with his fists against such an impossible opponent was terrifying.

And yet, Stark just glared at the winged monster, determination in his eyes.

He clenched his fists, determining his next move. His aura continued to pulsate around him, a testament to his unwavering resolve.

The monster in return merely let out a guttural growl (it had no mouth so kinda weird), the sound echoing throughout the abandoned district. It leaped towards Stark once more, its wings slicing through the air like knives.

Stark timed his dodge perfectly, leaping backward as the wings whizzed past, leaving a trail of dark mist in their wake.

"Hellfire!"

But the monster used one of its skill as it passed through, making a pillar of fire emerge from the ground where Stark had just landed, forcing him to roll away to avoid the damage.

"Feint Strike!"

The Feathered Scourge lunged at Stark again with incredible speed, its claws glowing ominously. But Stark was ready, and he met the attack with a powerful counter strike.

He dodged the claws of the monster, and then…

"-2182!"

Stark's fist connected solidly with the monster's face, the impact sending it reeling backwards.

'Phew… at least I know that I can deal good damage to it…'

"Eye Curse!"

The mini-boss looked down for a few seconds as it activated this powerful skill, then right as the skill reached its peak, it looked back at Stark, its piercing gaze on him.

'HOLY?' the sheer intense and overwhelming aura shook his entire body.

But that was all, nothing else.

[The 'fear' effect cannot be applied to someone with the 'domination' class]

It seemed like the 'Eye Curse' skill made it so that the scourge used its aura to scare off its opponents and deal the 'fear' status effect to them, reducing their movements and accuracy.

But it didn't work on Stark, and so the scourge, believing that he was affected, lunged itself toward him again, using 'Feint Strike'.

But as expected, Stark avoided the attack as if everything was fine, and punched the mini-boss not once, but twice as it was taken aback.

"-4920!"

He had dealt more damage than before, maybe because his confidence had gone up…?

[Mini-Boss HP: 17898/25000]

The winged creature, yet again taken aback by Stark's ability to avoid its attacks, growled again, this one more aggressive and louder than the last.

And for the first time, his confidence as high as ever before, Stark was the one who attacked the mini-boss, rushing towards it.

"Feint Strike…!"

The mini-boss tried to slice Stark in half, but yet again, the boy avoided the attack, punching the monster in the stomach in return as he wasn't tall enough to reach its head.

"-1738!" seems like it still did a fair amount of damage.

"Soul Syphon," the feathered scourge's hand suddenly began glowing as if trying to grab onto Stark's soul.

At that moment, Stark felt a shiver run down his spine. He knew this skill would be dangerous, and so he backed away, only able to punch it one more time.

"-1837!"

[You have been hit by 'Soul Syphon', draining attributes slowly for battle]

[Strength: 26…25…24…]

Even being close to Soul Syphon was enough to activate it, and now it wasn't his life that was being reduced, but his other stats.

'I need to end this quick before I do 1 damage per hit…' Stark thought, feeling the aura around his hands shine brighter because of his determination.